Nuclear power on the slide to disappearance

The rise and fall of nuclear power, in 6 charts, Vox by Brad Plumer on August 1, 2014, Nuclear power is slowly going out of style. Back in 1996, atomic energy supplied 17.6 percent of the world’s electricity. Today that’s down to just 10.8 percent — and it could drop even further in the years ahead. That’s according to the World Nuclear Industry Status Report 2014, which charts the rise and fall of nuclear power over time.

What’s more, nuclear power has been eclipsed by other energy sources

………….Without further action, nuclear power could vanish in 50 years The chart above shows how long the world’s existing reactors are likely to last in the decades ahead. By 2059, most of them are likely to be retired. That means, unless the world goes on a frenzy of new construction, nuclear power will nearly vanish by mid-century.

WE’D NEED TO BUILD 400 REACTORS BETWEEN NOW AND 2059 JUST TO MAINTAIN EXISTING CAPACITY

Here’s how the authors figure: Without new construction, the average age of the world’s nuclear reactors has now reached 28.5 years. Many reactors may shut down once they hit 40 years, although some will likely get extended for longer than that (at a cost of $1 billion or more).

It all depends on the country. In the United States, many reactors were initially licensed to last 40 years, although they can apply for a 20-year extension — and, so far, 72 of the 100 existing reactors have received government permission to keep operating for 60 years.

Eventually, however, all of the world’s current reactors will have to retire — as the chart above shows, the report pegs this date at sometime in the 2050s. That means the world will have to build around 394 additional reactors between now and then just to maintain existing capacity. And if nuclear power is to expand above current levels, we’d have to build more than that. http://www.vox.com/2014/8/1/5958943/nuclear-power-rise-fall-six-charts